American History
by The Princess Wolf
Summary: PAUSED! What happens when a girl comes from the United States to attend Hogwarts? The Gryffindors are happy because she is palced in their house, but she hangs out with some shady Slytherins...
1. Stranger

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters present in Harry Potter. blah blah blah...if I did, I would be hanging around the movie set everyday fawning over Dan, Tom, and Rupert, I'd be Emma's best friend and I'd be rolling in cash...**

Chapter One

Rumors were flying around the castle at top speed. Harry couldn't turn a corner without hearing murmers and whispers. He had gotten bored with the usual gossip that normally circulated through the castle, so this new development at Hogwarts was something he wanted to get a hold of. This year had been pretty uneventful. Other than the constant threat of an attack from the newly returned Lord Voldemort, who was appearing to lay low until he had a descent following, nothing of any great importance was happening.

As he headed for the Gryffindor common room, Harry ran into Ron.

"Hey Harry," Ron greated him. "Have you heard the news?"

"No, I've heard the rumors, but I have no clue what they're about."

"You'll never believe it, mate," he continued as he stepped through the whole that led into the common room. "Dumbledore's bringing in a new student."

"So, who cares about that?" Harry asked, sitting down in an armchair in front of the fire.

"Well, for one, can you remember ever having a new student after the year has started?" Ron said, sitting next to him.

"No, I guess not."

"And that's not all," he continued, a wild grin on his face. "She's from the states."

Harry stopped flipping through the history book on his lap and stared up at Ron. "No way, Ron."

"Yes way, Harry." came Fred and George's voices together. Harry looked up to see them walking towards them from across the room.

"We've seen her." said George.

"And spoken with her." said Fred.

"And you'll never guess which house she's in," came Hermione's voice from across the room.

All four boys turned to see Hermione entering the Gryffindor common room, a tall girl with long hair trailing behind her.

"Now," Hermione said to the girl. "Don't forget the password or you'll be standing out there until someone else comes by and that could be hours."

"Okay, remember the password," the girl replied.

"Emily, this is Fred, George and Ron Weasly." Hermione said, pointing all of them out individually. "And this is Harry Potter."

"It's nice to meet you all," the girl said.

"This is Emily Shane."

The girl stood where she was, not looking at all uncomfortable amongst the strangers who were gawking at her. She actually looked like she was enjoying herself. She stood in front of them and played with the hem of her jacket. Her long, dark blonde hair was pulled into a braid that fell over her shoulder.

Harry broke away from the others and offered his hand to the girl. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Thanks," she replied as she gently took his hand. "I've never seen any place like it."

"I'd imagine so," said Ron, who had followed Harry's lead. "Where are you did you transfer from?"

"It's kinda complicated," she replied. "There wasn't really a school like this in the states. It was kinda like a traveling circus."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, clearly interested.

"Well, there weren't very many of us, maybe twenty or thirty. All of us were the same age and had been together for quite a while, except the adults, I guess you could say you they were our teachers. We would travel around everywhere so we wouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves. We were kind of like gyspies I guess." All of this came out in one long breath. She looked down at her shoes, embarrassed by her own ramblings.

"Well," said George.

"That's just fascinating," said Fred.

"But we are even more interesting," George cut in.

"Stick with us and all your dreams will come true." Fred finished.

"I'll make sure to remember that. Now," she said, turning to Hermione. "I'm really tired, would you mind showing me where to sleep?"

"Follow me."

"Goodnight all," the mysterious new girl said, following Hermione to the girl's dorm. The boys sat in the common room in silence, each one's head spinning with questions of their own.

Hermoine showed the girl which bed she could call her own during her stay and where to put her things. She showed her to the bathrooms and then told her the rules of the castle, where to go and where not to go. She gave her her class schedule and promised not to let her get lost. Soon, however, Hermoine found herself yawning and in need of sleep, so she excused herself and crawled into her own bed.

Emily found herself staring at the ceiling of the girl's dormitory, wide awake. So many thoughts flowed through her mind all at once. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, her eyes finally drifted closed and she fell asleep.


	2. Who are You?

**Disclaimer: Do you honestly think that I'd be taking time to write this if I actually owned Harry Potter?**

Chater Two

Emily awoke the next morning to Hermoine's voice calling her name. She sat up groggily and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. For a moment she wasn't sure where she was at, but after a few moments her memory unclouded and she hopped out of bed. She walked into the girls bathroom to clean up, only to find herself frustrated and having to ask one of the other girls how to work the faucet.

She didn't have much time after she was dressed for grooming, so she braided her hair and let it fall onto her shoulder. Hermoine led her away from the dorm when they were both ready and together headed for their first class of the day.

As walked with the small group of fellow Gryffindors, Emily noticed almost every person they passed would turn and stare. She was about to ask Hermoined about it when they turned and walked through the door of the transfigurations classroom.

When she entered the classroom she was shocked to find, not a teacher, but a cat, sitting in front of the classroom. The boy that was sitting on her left laughed when he noticed her puzzled expresion. She thought his name was Harry, but she wasn't entirely sure.

She was about to ask him if there was something on her face when the cat caught her eye again. In one quick movement, the cat lept from the table and -mid air- transformed into an older looking witch wearing green robes and a feathered, pointed hat.

A loud gasp escaped her lips and the rest of the classroom erupted in hushed laughter.

"Miss Shane, I presume," Proffesor Magonagal stated, striding across the room to meet the new student. "I am your transfiguration teacher. I presume the head master has filled you in on everything you need to know about my class?"

"Yes proffesor," she said, not taking her eyes off the intimidating witch.

"Well then, if you do your homework you should do fine."

Emily watched the woman turn and head towards the front of the class, speaking the entire time she went. On her left, Harry couldn't contain his laughter. Behind his laughter, he was secretly wondering if she'd ever taken a transfiguration class and how she was going to keep up with students who had already been doing it for six years.

Then another thought passed through Harry Potter's wondering mind, how did she get all of her school things? She seemed to know nothing of the way of life at Hogwarts, yet she dressed the same as everyone else and had the same supplies. He finally settled on the idea that Dumbledor must've had someone escort her to Diagon Alley before her arrival.

As the class moved on, they were instructed to transform large bull frogs into books. Emily enjoyed watching Hermione flip through the pages of the frog she had just transformed, only to turn it back into the frog and start all over because she had already read the book she conjured.

After a few tries of her own, Emily was able to successfully turn her frog into a suitable book. Ron was amazed by this, he'd been doing transfigurations since his first year and his book kept trying to hop away, causing everyone in close proximity to burst out laughing.

She followed Hermione to the front of the class to return their frogs where Proffesor Magonagal gave them an approving smile and dissmissed the two.

"I'm headed to the library," Hermione said after they had left the classroom. "You're welcome to join me if you want. The next class doesn't start for quite some time."

"Um, I'll think I'll go outside for a while." Emily replied.

"Okay, just remember to be back inside before class starts and don't go into the forbiden forest and don't get lost." Hermione told her all in one breath.

"See you, Hermione."

Emily turned and headed outside, needing some fresh air. She walked through the doors of the castle and welcomed the warmth of the autumn sun on her face. She walked around the grounds of the castle until she stumbled upon what, to her, looked like a large stadium. She approached it with curiosity.

As she walked towards the stadium she noticed somthing hovering in the air high above the seats. She squinted but couldn't see what it was until she finally entered the stadium, and what she saw took her breath away.

It was a boy, flying through the air on a broomstick. Emily gazed up in awe and watched as the stranger spun through the air, twisting and twirling every which way, never faultering. Not once did he look like he would fall, not once did his face portray any trace of fear. She continued to watch for a few more moments before he noticed her. When he did he descended faster than anything Emily had ever seen. He pointed the handle of the broom straight towards the ground and plummetted downward. Just seconds before making contact with the hard green grass, he leveled out and his speed slowed. He slowly floated to the place where Emily stood rooted to the ground in shock.

"Who are you and why are you spying on me?" He spat, now on the ground and walking towards her, his robes fluttering around his feet and his blonde hair falling in his face.

"Who are you to accuse me of spying?" she spat right back at him. "For your information, I was just getting some fresh air and came to see what this stadium was all about."

He eyed her questioningly for a few moments before extending his hand to her. "Draco Malfoy. You are?"

"Emily Shane," she replied as she shook his hand.

"Ah yes, your that new student from America. I've heard about you." His eyes narrowed.

"Well, coincidentally, I've heard some things about you. But you see, I'm the kind of person who throws rumors to the wind and prefers to judge someone's character for myself. I could be the kind of person who would have drawn her wand as soon as she saw you because from what she's heard, you're the kind of person who should be hexed just for breathing, but I'm not," she said all in almost one breath. She crossed her arms across her chest and raised one eyebrow, waiting for the boy in front of her to respond.

To her surprise, he raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. "I'll think I'm going to like you, Shane. Most people cower away from me, even Potter avoids me sometimes."

"Yes, Harry has told me to be on guard when your around."

This made him frown and mutter "Stupid wonder boy."

"Why are you out here anyway? Shouldn't you like, be in class or something?"

"Well," he said, his frown disappearing. "If you've heard anything about me at all, you should know that I never follow the rules."

He noticed her staring at him as he sat across his broom like he was sitting on a railing. "What?"

"Well, I, it's just," she stuttered nervously.

"Never flown before?" Draco laughed.

She shook her head.

"And you're wondering how it's done?"

She nodded.

"And you would like for me to teach you?"

She smiled.

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Finally he looked up and locked eyes with her. He smiled and she jumped up and down in excitement.

"Don't get your knicker in a twist just yet. You won't be flying anywhere today." he said.

Her face fell a little. "When then?"

"How about tomorrow?" he asked, smiling internally as he watched her face light back up.

"Sounds like a plan!" and with that she turned and headed back to the castle.


	3. After we Eat

**Disclaimer: The things I ownan old pair of dirty sox, a piece of cake in my fridge, not Harry Potter, and the monster under my bed (he's my slave).**

Chapter 3

Saturday. Normal American children woke up early to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. Teenagers in America sleep in until noon on Saturdays, even the students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sleep in. But Emily was up before the sun on this Saturday.

She jumped out of bed as quietly as she could pulled on a pair of blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a black hooded sweatshirt. Her tennis shoes were on shortly after that. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and with a quick flick of her wand twisted her hair into a tight elegant bun. She tucked her wand into the waistband of her jeans and snuck out of the girls dormitory.

Ginny Weasly, who had fallen asleep on one of the common room couches, woke with a gentle start at the sound of shoes coming down the stairs. She sat up and saw Emily walking towards her. She caught her eye as she walked towards the fireplace. "Hello, Emily."

"Hello," she said. "Um, Ginny, right?"

"Yeah," the young girl smiled. "Where you headed?"

"Out to that stadium thing. I'm going to learn how to fly today."

"Really? It's so much fun, it's like nothing else in the world," Ginny said. "Who's going to teach you?"

"Draco Malfoy."

Emily could see the girl hesitate before answering. "I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."

"Trust me, Harry has already told me about Malfoy. I know that none of the other Gryffindors really like him, but I really want to find out for myself." She nodded to the girl and left the common room through the portrait hole. She headed outside and made her way to the arena, knowing that there wouldn't be anyone else out there for a while, but there was something she wanted to see.

She climbed up into the bleachers that faced east and found the highest seat she could. And in that seat is where she sat, facing east, waiting for the sun.

"You're pretty strange, you know that?" a voice rang out from the bleachers on the opposite side of the feild.

Emily looked questioningly in the direction the voice came from, but the sun had not risen yet and there was not enough light for her to see.

"Yet you remain the stranger," she replied. At hearing this, the other person floated across the empty space that separated the two and landed gracefully next to Emily and leaning a broom across some empty seats.

"I am no stranger."

With a smile, Emily realized that it was Malfoy that had called her strange. "I guess I'm no more strange than you are."

"So, why are you out here?" he asked her almost deffensivly, as if he owned the stadium.

"Well, I figured this would be the best place to watch the sunrise." she replied, giving him a go-to-hell-I-can-be-here-if-I-want-to-be look. "Why are _you_ here?"

"For your information, it's none of your business why I'm here."

She laughed at him.

"And what do you think is so funny?" he gawked at her.

"You, and how you think that by intimidating eveyone into fearing you so that no one can get close enough to know the real Draco." She crossed her arms across her chest triumphantly.

"You don't even know me," he spat at her, standing up and looking over the railing.

"Oh, but I do. Maybe not Draco Malfoy, but I've known so many people like you and you're all the same."

"For someone wanting me to do them a favor, you're certainly not heading in the right direction." He was deffinately getting uncomfortable with the direction Emily was taking this converstaion.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not hear this early to learn how to fly." She smiled at him.

Draco glared at the girl sitting in front of him. He took in her appearance, her black sweatshirt and blue jeans, and realized that they were dressed almost exactly the same. He laughed inwardly at this.

"What?" Emily asked worridly. "Is there something on my face?"

"No," Draco replied. "We're just dressed the same."

"Oh, well isn't that a coincedence," she stated.

"Not really."

"Well, I don't care what you think," she retorted cooly. "Now shut up, I'm trying to enjoy the sunrise."

Draco quieted instantly, no one had ever talked to him like that. He sat silently with his arms folded across his chest and watched Emily as she watched the sun come up.

The bright fireball was hanging in the sky just above the bleachers that face the two students when Draco interupted the surreal silence. "Why are you out here so early?"

"I already told you, to watch the sun rise," she replied cooly.

"I knew that, I meant why are you watching the sun rise?"

"I'm not really sure, it's just something I do." She smiled at a thought that ran through her head. "Back in the U.S., we never stayed in one place very long. I'm not really sure why I love this so much, I think it's because no matter where you go, the same sun always rises."

"That's really..." Draco started. Emily expected him to say weird she was or how much of a luzer she was. "...different."

She stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I've never really thought of it like that. I've just always seen the sun as a burning light, exposing all of the secrets that the night holds."

Draco watched as the girl in front of him thought about what she said. "I guess this morning is a morning of enlightenment for the both of us."

That sat in silence for a little while longer, neither saying anything or making any noise, they just sat together and soaked up the early morning sun.

"So, how about we go eat and then head back out here afterwards?" Draco asked.

Emily smiled a crooked smile. "After breakfeast, we fly."


	4. Mudblood

**Disclaimer: Hokay so, here's de earth, and stuck in the stupid little place i will not name is me...and then way way way across the ocean is a little place called London...and that is the place where the richest women in the U.K. lives (even richer than the queen, or so i heard on the news)...and she is the owner of Harry and his gang...sigh what i would saw off and sell to be J.K. Rowling...**

_A/N: this one's kinda long, but it reveals the needed interaction between Draco and Emily. The next one will be a little more dramatic, so just bear with me for now._

Chapter Four

"I refuse to let you go," Harry proclaimed. "If you want to learn to fly me and Ron can teach you. Hell, even Ginny would be better than _Malfoy_."

"I don't think it's really up to you," Emily replied cooly. "Besides, haven't you ever heard the saying 'keep your friends close but enemies closer?' If I were you, Harry, I would be trying to mend fences with Malfoy, not keeping your distance. You never know what he might let slip in a casual conversation."

And with that she gracefully stood up from the Gryffindor table, pulled her hood over her hair and glidded out the door, leaving Harry and Ron thinking over her words.

Once outside, Emily walked rather quickly out to the quidditch pitch, only to find that no was there. Emily crossed her arms and waited as patiently as she could for her instructer.

Back at the great hall, Draco Malfoy was sitting quietly eating his breakfeast, wondering what excuse he could make so that he could leave without anyone knowing where he was going. If Blaise or Pansy knew he was going to be with a Gryffindor, he'd be treated worse than first years on the first night.

He sighed inwardly. Blaise glanced at him as Draco stood up to leave, silently asking where he was going. "I'm not feeling to well, I think I'm going to go lie down for a while."

Without replying, the rest of the Slytherins went back to whatever it was they were doing as Draco left the great hall and headed towards the open field.

Harry watched from the Gryffindor table with disgust. He couldn't understand why Emily couldn't see the same Malfoy that everyone else saw. The evil person who didn't care for anyone but himself, the person who was cruel and merciless. Maybe she was just blind. He knew what he had to do, he had to be the one to open her eyes.

_But why?_

Why did he have to show her the kind of person Malfoy was? Why couldn't he just let her see for herself, find out the hardway? But that would make him just as bad as the person he was trying to reveal. He dropped the piece of toast he had been nibbling on onto the plate in front of him. He was exhausted and the thought of protecting Emily only tired him further.

Dumbledore was driving him insane with the talk of the horcruxes. He understood what he had to do, understood what they meant, but the old man wasn't making much sense. He was walking them in circles over and over again and it was wearing Harry down fast. He was faltering in all his classes and he wasn't even bothering with quidditch anymore, allowing Ginny to take over as seeker. Harry Potter was slowly becoming a shell of a person.

Emily hummed to herself as she waited for Draco to arrive. She twirled her wand across her fingers and watched a little bug scurry across the grass. She felt a sudden _woosh_ of air across her right shoulder and a green blur pass by her and out into the quidditch pitch. She rushed forward to see Draco spinning seemingly out of control towards the three goal posts at the other end of the feild.

She smiled as he looped through the tallest one and circled back around so that he was heading in her direction. He landed a few feet in front of her and trotted forward to meet her.

"Hello, Draco," she said. "Have a good breakfeast?" 

"It was okay," he replied. "Not nearly as good as the food our elves cook at home, but it will do."

Emily laughed softly, the sound reverberating against the stands. She followed him as he walked to a small shed. He swung the door open, removing an old ratty broom.

"Here," he said, handing the broom to Emily. "You can ride this Clean Sweep to start. It doesn't go that fast, don't worry."

"I'm not scared," she muttered as she carried the broom out to the middle of the pitch, following closley to Draco. "But I would like to ride your broom, it looks much nicer."

He laughed. "Maybe when you've flown a bit first."

He showed he how to mount the broom and how to steer. He informed her the various ways to turn and what to do if she rolled the broom over. He made sure to tell her the different ways to stop and was sure that she knew what to do if she fell off the broom before letting her even touch the wooden handle.

When he did he was impressed, the girl seemed to take in everything he had said. He watched from the grass as she slowly drifted through the air, no trace of fear on her face. She twirled and circled around the entire feild twice before landing in front of Draco again.

"So," she said. "Can I try yours now?"

"Um," I said nervously. "Well, I guess, but take it slow, okay?"

Emily smiled as Draco handed her his shiny broom. She mounted it slowly and stood on the groud for a while before kicking off and soaring into the air. She twirled and rolled, turned and dove, spinning even more wildly than Draco had. He watched her from the ground in awe as she swirled around the goal posts. He watched as she hovered over the middle hoop for just a moment before leaping from the broom in mid air, landing lightly on the top of the hoop. She laughed as she glanced at Draco and saw his mouth hanging open. She soared through the air and landed lightly back in front of the still shocked Draco.

"You're a filthy liar!" he said, trying to be angry but not really succeeding. Her soft laughter was distracting.

"I never said I couldn't fly," she replied sweetly. "I just asked you to teach me to fly like you."

"You still decieved me."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking down at her feet. "But I wanted to talk to you and couldn't think of any other way." 

"Why didn't you just talk to me?" Emily flinched back as his voiced raised a little bit.

"Because I'm a Gryffindor and you're a Slytherin, we're not supposed to just talk to each other. Even though I haven't been here that long, I had enough people tell me who I'm not supposed to talk to," she explained.

"And you still wanted to talk to me? Even though Potter surely lectured you on the dangers of being near me?"

"Yes, I believe in finding out things for myself." She smiled as his anger drifted away. "Besides, I usually do what people tell me not to. It makes life more interesting."

He laughed and took his broom from the blonde girl's outstretched hand. "Well now that I already know that you can fly, what are we going to do now?"

"Um," she said, thinking. "You could teach me to play quidditch, that's something I honestly have no clue about."

"I don't know if I can trust you anymore," he joked.

She playfully punched him in the arm. "It's okay, that's what life's about isn't? Learning to trust people."

"Some people can't be trusted." He told her shadily.

She just laughed at him, not seeing the warning in his words. Together they walked back up to the castle.

"What do you have planned for the rest of the day?" Emily asked him curiously.

"Well, I don't really know. Probably just head down the the lake later, that's usually what Slytherins do on Saturday nights." He said, shuffling his feet as the hung around the front doors.

"Ah, sounds like fun." She looked through the doors and saw a group of green and silver clad students walking their way. "I'd better go, wouldn't want you be seen with a lowly Gryffindor."

She walked past him, laying her hand gently on his shoulder, then she was gone.

"Draco," came Blaize's voice. "What were you doing with that loser?"

"Oh," he replied. "She was just asking me how to get to the astronomy tower, so I just pointed her in the opposite direction."

The entire group of cronies laughed. He walked with them back down to the dungeons and into the Slytherin common room, flouncing down onto the couch. Blaize sat down on the other end of the couch and face him.

"I heard she a mudblood." He stated, matter-of-factly.

Draco stared at him, not wanting to believe him, but wanting to hear more. The soaring feeling that he had felt when he watched Emily fly was gone now and was replaced by a sudden sinking feeling.

"What?" he asked.

"Yeah, she a filthy, dirty, mudblo-"

He was cut off by a pillow slamming into his face hard.

"You don't know that for sure." Draco said steemily. He stood up and flew through the common room, slamming the doors the boys dormitory.

"What's got his knickers in a twist?" Blaize asked, rubbing his jaw.


	5. Mistrusted

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other J.K. Rowling's characters. blah blah blah...i wish i could own something that amazing though. she's my hero. lol But anyways...let's get this on with.**

Chapter Five:

Emily watched as Hermione flipped through the pages of a rather large book. The sunlight was filtering through the library windows across her face, making her look somewhat angelic.

Hermione really was pretty. She couldn't figure out why she didn't have a boyfriend. Maybe it had something to do with those two boys she was always with. She really didn't know.

The piece of parchment in front of her ruffled as Hermione shifted a large stack of books.

"Sorry," she mumbled, reajusting the pile of books.

"It's okay," I told her. "What are you doing? I thought your homework was already done?"

"It is," she replied, not removing her eyes from the book in front of her. "This is extra research I'm doing for Harry."

"Oh," was all the blonde girl said. She continued writing on the parchment in front of her.

"I heard you were with Malfoy this morning," Hermione stated, once again not removing her eyes from her work.

"Yes," Emily replied almost defensively.

"I just wanted to tell you that-"

"I know, I know...stay away, he's no good, he's not who he says he is." Emily rolled her eyes.

"If you would just listen," Hermione hissed, "I wasn't going to warn you away from him." 

Emily eyed her, regret for snapping at her written across her face.

"What I was _going_ to say, was that you were right."

Emily waited for her to continue, looking at the direction the sun was entering the room.

"At breakfeast, when you said that thing about keeping your enemies close."

When Emily didn't reply, Hermione looked up to see her gazing out the window. She turned to face her and said, "I've always found that it's helpful."

"Listen, I've known Draco Malfoy for years, but if you see some hidden kindness in him that I don't, well I just think that it's a good idea to keep him close for now," she finished, flicking her wand towards the stack of books and sending them back to their shelves. "I have to go see Harry."

The bushy haired girl stood and left the library, leaving Emily all alone. She turned back to the piece of parchment on the table in front of her. She figured that if Hermione was willing to let her having a friendship with Draco go, then things weren't too bad. From the stories that a her fellow Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom, had told her, Draco was awful to Hermione. He always insulted her in the worst ways and made fun of her. Neville wouldn't tell Emily the name he would call her, saying that it was too hideous for him to repeat.

She gave up on the essay she was trying to write and packed all of her things into her school bag. She trotted out of the library, passing a few younger students on her way. She didn't really know where she was heading, she was just walking, not paying attention to the path her feet were making.

Before she knew it, Emily was making her way to the great hall. She figured she could just wait there until dinner. It was only about a half an hour before the students began pouring in, all of them excited with a weekend glow. Harry came and sat next to her, Ginny next to him, Ron sat on the other side, Hermione in front of her, and Neville Longbottom next to her.

"Good evening," she said once the food had appeared on the table. "How was everyone's day?"

"Mine was good," answered Neville. "I spent most of it in the green house with Sprout and some third year Hufflepuffs."

"My day was fine, I've been in the common room since I left you in the library." Hermione said.

"Harry?" Emily asked.

"My day was fine," he replied dully. "Nothing exciting happened."

"What about you Ron?"

"Same," he muttered, not taking his eyes away from the piece of stake he was slices.Emily wondered why the two boys were giving her the cold shoulder. She shook it off and continued talking with the rest of the students.

"My day was absolutely amazing, I was talking with Danito, that boy from Spain, and he was telling me of this..." Ginny started, continuing on with her story far into dessert. "So tomorrow night I'm going to hang out with Jupiter and Lena."

"What about classes the next morning?" Hermione asked the younger girl.

"It'll be fine, don't worry. I'll be back in the common room before curfew." Ginny laughed.

Emily was starting to feel tired, so she bid farewell to the group of teams and stood up to leave. She was out of the great hall and heading up one of the many Hogwarts staircases when she felt something tugging as the back of her robes. She turned around so suddenly that she almost hit her nose against the nose of her persuer.

She gasped before jumping back, causing her to loose her footing on the stair she was on. She flew forward and into the arms of the person standing in front of her.

"Wow," the person said. "I didn't realize you'd be this happy to see me again."

Emily heard soft laughter and lifted her head up to meet Draco Malfoy's grey eyes. "Oh, it's only you."

"I could leave?"

"No," she said, not too quickly, but obviously not wanting him to leave. "You can stay, if it pleases you."

He smirked at her. "I don't know if I will, I was just passing by."

"Still don't trust me?"

"It's hard to trust a Gryffindor, much less a _female_ Gryffindor."

The girl laughed at this. "What does me being a _girl_ have anything to do with how trustworthy I am? If anything, I shouldn't trust you, just because testosterone is so much more prone to cause an untrustworthy occurance."

His smirk grew into a wide smile. "You're sly, like a Slytherin, did you know that?"

"Well, it can only be expected, since apparently I think like a Ravenclaw, work like a Hufflepuff and act like a Gryffindor...apparently I'm the perfect combination of every house." Emily was looking down at her feet when she said this, like it was a bad thing. "There was never anything like this at home. It was like we were one big family, all of us working together to achieve one goal, _stay hidden_."

"I don't understand," Draco said, pulling Emily's arm gently to get her to walk forward. "Why did you have to hide from muggles? It wasn't like they could ever even touch you."

The girl furrowd her brow in concentration. "Well, it's not like it is here, with pureblood and lineage. There's not much magic left there. It was a very rare thing to find a group of witches or wizards living together in one place. We mostly just wanted to stay together, and it was easier to do that when there weren't a group of ordinary people trying to burn us on stakes. Together we were a family, it almost killed me to leave.

"We could also do magic whenever we wanted, none of this underaged wizarding stuff, so we were always learning from each other. It's weird coming here, having to learn about ancient runes and the history of magic. We only ever learned what we needed to survive in the 'normal' world."

Draco was lost in thought, imagining what it would be like to be a wizard in America. He didn't realize that Emily had stopped walking untily she tugged at his arm. He turned to face her, wondering what had halted their stroll.

"What?" he muttered. She didn't say anything, just nodded her head towards her left and disappeared behind a suit of armor. The suit tilted it's head to look at her, but she put her finger to her lips.

Draco was still confused when a group of his fellow sixth year Slytherins came sauntering around the corner to his left. His mouth hung open in shock, how had Emily knew they were about to round the corner? The group was led by Blaise Zabini, followed closely by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Good evening, Blaise," Draco greeted the boys. "Headed down to the lake?"

"Why yes we are Draco," the boy replied. "Are we going to see you there?"

"Maybe, maybe not," he said in a slithery tone that made Emily's skin crawl. "I was thinking of visiting Pansy later."

"Ah ha ha," Blaise retorted. "You have fun with that, mate. She may be one crazy, clingy, skank, but I hear she's good. Very, eager to please."

The boy laughed and started to leave when he stopped and turned back to face Draco. "Better than that stupid mudblood, Granger, I'd bet."

"Probably," Draco laughed, not giving the comment a second though.

And with that the other boy left, followed by the green clad cronies. 

"How'd you know that they were there?" Draco laughed, turning back to the direction Emily had hidden.

Emily stepped around the statue, her eyes fixed on his. "What's a mudblood?"

"What?"

"I mudblood, Draco, what is it?" Her features stayed blank, so Draco had no luck in determining her reaction.

"A magical person of muggle descent," he told her, his voice low. He wasn't sure why he was afraid to tell her this. He had never had any problem annoyncing his hatred for Hermione Granger in front of the entire school.

So why did it hurt him to tell Emily?

He didn't even really know her.

But when her eyes met his, he felt as if something was tearing through his insides.

"Someone like me?" Her voice was hollow. "My parents had no magical abilities. Does that make me a mudblood, Draco?"

He looked away from her eyes, not wanting to answer her.

"It's something awful, too, isn't it?"

He nodded, his eyes glued to his feet, not answering her once more.

"That's what he was talking about," the girl muttered to herself.

"Who? Who was talking about me?" Draco shouted.

"A friend of mine," she said, careful not to mention names, "told me that ever since you started school here you've made it your mission to completely distroy Hermione Granger's experience here!"

"Well, that's-"

"And you know what, Draco? I chose not to believe him, even though he had absolutely no reason at all to lie to me. I thought that maybe you weren't as bad as _everyone_ made you out to be, that maybe you were just misunderstood." She threw her arms into the air and started to walk away, but the blond haired boy grabbed her arm.

"Emily wait! You don't understand. You said it yourself, where you're from there aren't blood fueds or lineage wars! Things are so different here than anything you could ever imagine. It's normal for people like me to detest peole like her."

"People like her? I'm people like her, Draco! Don't you understand that? I AM HER! We're the same!" Emily said, her voice growing louder with every word.

"You don't understand," he said.

"Yeah, I'm too ignorant to know anything about blood, right? I am so stupid. Stupid for thinking that people were wrong, stupid for thinking that you weren't the person they told me you were!" She turned to walk away but stopped, lowering her voice to a whisper. "And do want to know the worst part? In the short time I've known you I've actually trusted you. I would've believed you over anyone here."

Then she was gone, leaving Draco alone.

**A/N: Aaannnddd finished. I don't know why, but this chapter took a long time to write. I like it, but I think I may have tore them apart too soon. Not giving them time to bond enough to make the separation more meaningfull. Anyways, tell my what you think. I accept flaming, just not for the sake of flaming, please make it constructive. It hurts my feelings when people just randomly hate on me. lol Toodles...**


	6. Box of Fun

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter; he is J.K. Rowling's. I do, though, own my dreams, my imagination. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'm not sure if I will continue with it though. Shrugs who knows? School has started and I'm really busy. But if anyone loves me enough, they should realize that there are wwwaaayyyy less mistakes in this chapter! Woo! I'm now using Microsoft word!!! Yay!**

Chapter Six:

Harry and Ron couldn't help but smile. As they sat across the table from their new housemate, they tried to hide their wild grinning with various forms of food. The piece of toast that Ron was holding was failing to do its job, resulting in a swift kick to the shins from Hermione.

"What was that for?" Ron groaned, rubbing his leg under the table.

"For being an insensitive git, that's what that was for." Hermione snapped.

"Could we just drop this?" Emily spat. "It's okay, really. I've learned to deal with this kind of thing. Judging people for myself doesn't always pay off."

Harry watched as Malfoy sat at his usual spot at his table, carelessly eating his breakfast. He frowned inwardly at the sight.

He hadn't known Emily that long, but she was already one of his friends, and Malfoy was the cause of her current unhappiness. The simple fact that it was Malfoy made the situation even more infuriating.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Malfoy is a jerk and always will be," stated Ginny Weasley.

"I think I pretty much understand that now." Emily dropped the muffin she was nibbling at onto the plate in front of her. "I think I'm going to head back up to the common room. I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Hermione asked concernedly.

"No," she replied. "I'll be fine, thanks anyway."

She stood up gracefully, allowing her long hair to flow behind her as she walked towards the doors of the Great Hall. Harry watched her until she disappeared before continuing with his breakfast. George Weasley was the only Gryffindor sitting at the table who noticed that someone else had left the Great Hall after Emily, a certain _blonde_ someone else.

"Hey, I just had the greatest idea," George exclaimed, jumping up from the table. "I need to be somewhere."

"No test subjects, I hope?" Hermione asked, not looking away from her copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Trust me Hermione," said Fred. "Even if we were still using the first and second years, I assure your little heart, you wouldn't find out."

And with that he left his fellow Gryffindors and followed Draco Malfoy out of the Great Hall.

"Malfoy," came Emily's voice from around the corner. George was stopped on the other side of the brick corridor, listening intently to the conversation.

"Don't call me that," he grunted. "You sound just like them when you call me that."

"Honestly, Draco," she said back to him. "Why do you hate them so much? Do you even know them?"

"I know enough!" he yelled back at her. "Your precious 'golden boy' can do no wrong! I bet if he murdered you tomorrow Dumbledore would make him head boy! He'd tell the whole school you were a death eater in disguise, trying to get to him from the inside"

"You can't know that!" Emily's voice was becoming frustrated. "Draco, have you ever talked to Harry? Without insults riddling your conversation? You don't know anything!"

George heard her footsteps brush past the sport where Malfoy was standing.

"Let go of me," Emily's voice mumbled.

"Go back to your stupid wonder boy and his stupid friends. But you can't hate me just for calling that stupid girl a name!" Draco's voice was raised.

"No! I can hate you because you're a complete ass and a jerk! Now let go of me, Malfoy!" Emily jerked her arm away and started to storm away.

But in one quick movement Draco had her arm in his firm grasp once again. "I told you not to call me that!"

Then she was on the floor, her lip bleeding and her arm in searing pain.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not right to hit a lady?" George's strong voice echoed through the corridor. "Now I guess I'm going to be the one to teach you that lesson?"

"Oh, really?" Draco sounded amused. "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"With my fist." And then George hit Draco square in the jaw, sending him sprawled onto the floor next to Emily. "Now, I'm sure that hurt, so I'll imagine there won't be anymore of this abuse with my good friend here?"

"You better watch your back Weasley, if you know what's good for you!"

"Really, Malfoy, I'll be sure to do that." Then, turning to Emily, "let's go."

He extended his hand towards her and helped her reach her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think I may have broken my arm."

"Well, lets get you to the infirmary. I'm sure Madame Pompfry will be able to fix this rather quickly." He said.

"It's okay; you don't have to take me. I know where it is."

"It's no trouble, really," he said sincerely. "Besides, what if Malfoy comes back?"

She laughed a nervously. "I really can look out for myself. He just caught me by surprise. I didn't think he'd actually hit me."

"Well, that kid is really messed up. Comes from a bad family you know."

They approached the doors of the hospital wing and went inside.

"Oh goodness!" the old women exclaimed. "What on earth happened to you, deary?"

"Spell backfired," the girl answered quickly. "I was trying to transfigure an apple into an orange, but it sort of exploded."

"Tsk, tsk. Something like that happened to me once when I was younger. Never experimented with spells again I tell you."

She mumbled a few words and pointed her wand at the girl's arm. The pain was instantly soothed.

"Now what about that lip?"

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind fixing that too, I'd really appreciate it."

"No trouble at all, deary."

After the cut in her lip was healed, Emily walked with George back towards the Gryffindor common room. They sat in two of the chairs stationed in front of the fireplace and waited for the flames to warm their chilled hands. It was early in the day still, but the hallways stayed cold during the winter.

"Thank you, George."

"Anytime," he replied with a giant grin. "If there's ever a chance I can help you out and hit Malfoy all at the same time, just let me know."

Emily laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to look out for myself from now on. I didn't think I would have to around here. But now I see I was clearly mistaken."

"It's okay, love," George replied, resting his head on the back of his chair. "You want to skip classes with me today?"

"What?" the girl asked in surprise. "You can do that?"

"Sure! Why not? Besides, we could always tell McGonagall that you decided to stay in bed after Malfoy assaulted you."

"Well," Emily replied. "What do you want to do while we're on the lamb?"

"We could go to Hogsmeade; I know all the secret passages out of the school."

"Yeah, but it's so cold outside. We could just hang out here."

"Sounds like a plan, just wait here a minute," George said, leaving his chair and heading up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Moments later he returned, carrying a large trunk. "Let me show you how I have fun."

And with a wicked grin, George unleashed his box of fun.


End file.
